The full de Ferran Q & A (with mp3)

Henry Hope-Frost: Two-time Champ Car winner, British Formula Three champion. Indy 500 winner. You must miss driving?

Gil de Ferran: No, I don't actually. Well, I retired from driving two years ago, in the end of 2003, and it was a conscious decision on my side. There was no pressure from anywhere for me to stop racing, I just felt like I wanted to do something else with my life.

But like every big decision like that, it is never that clear-cut - you are never 100 percent sure. But I guess the proof is in the pudding, and so far I feel it was the right decision. I am enjoying myself in pursuing different things and finding a new challenge in my life.

HHF: Any regrets about not racing in Formula One?

GDF: It's a funny thing. I mean, for sure when I first came to Europe back in 1988, my career was solely focused on going F1 racing. That's really all I wanted - to become an F1 champion - and that is why I came here, and that is why I started racing in Formula ford and then F3, and then F3000.

As it happens, my role took me a different direction. Certainly I started to pay more attention to IndyCar in America when Emerson Fittipaldi went over there and was successful. And suddenly Nigel Mansell went there in 1993 as the current Formula One World Champion. I thought that it may be a good career move for me. At the end of 1994, I was entertaining some approaches to perhaps go in F1 - I tested a couple of time - but when I had a firm offer to go to America, I thought I would go down that road.

From there, I developed my career - at times I had opportunities to perhaps come back - and I ended my career over there. And I guess, in the end of 2003, when I looked back, I thought, am I a frustrated man? And the clear answer was no. As I laid my head on the pillow, I was happy, I was satisfied with my life and the way my career went up until that point. I had a lot of fun, I enjoyed myself tremendously and learned a hell of a lot. I was a satisfied person and a satisfied professional.

HHF: Did you make a conscious decision to go and find a role in Formula One? Or did the offer from BAR come out of the blue? Was it a surprise?

GDF: I think it is one of those things when opportunity meets desire. When I retired from driving, I had no intention of going on a lifelong holiday. I am still a young man and I don't desire to just do nothing. I wanted to find new challenges in my life, and I have been involved in racing since I was a kid, so it made sense to find something within racing, particularly on the competitive side.

I did some work in the USA for ABC and ESPN commentating on IndyCar races; I was doing a lot of corporate appearances too. But I missed the competition side. I like to be involved in the competitive side of the sport, which I have been since I was young. So when the approach came, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to develop a new career.

HHF: Did you take to life on the other side of the fence quickly?

GDF: I'm still adapting. It is a steep learning curve - not only with Formula One, but dealing with a team of over 500 people now, and it has been very interesting.

HHF: An exciting phase in Honda's F1 presence. Are you looking forward to a good year?

GDF: Very much so. All the signs are very good, both Jenson [Button] and Anthony [Davidson] had some really good tests prior to Christmas; just this week I came back from Jerez where Rubens [Barrichello] had his first go in the car, which was very interesting.

The new car seems to be developing well in the tunnel and we should launch it soon. New engine is going well, so we made all our plans to be as successful as possible right from the start, so we are looking forward to an exciting season this year.

HHF: Good to rekindle your friendship with Rubens, a man from Brazil who you raced against. Exciting for him to make the switch from Ferrari, where he obviously was contracted to come second every weekend. He'll be good for the team, won't he?

GDF: I think so. Interestingly enough, I know Rubens since I was 14 years old; I raced against him a little bit in go-karts in Brazil and in the lower formulae here in Europe. And although I was racing against him, I never worked with him as a teammate or anything like that. So it was very interesting this week to be working with him for the first time.

I think Rubens will bring a lot to the team. Not only do we consider him to be a very fast driver - and that is really the primary reason that we brought him along - but he is a very experienced driver who knows a lot about the sport and cars, and so forth. So he should help us on many counts.

HHF: It goes without saying that the first person you want to beat is your teammate. For Jenson and Rubens, it's absolutely crucial they beat one another

GDF: Look, I think that having a very competitive pair fighting for the top positions is a problem that any team would like to have. A lot has been said about trying to deal with competitive drivers and so on and so forth, and it's like paying tax. You only pay tax if you make money, and making money is a good thing.

So that problem will only arrive if we are competitive, right up front, and fighting for wins and odiums. So that is a problem I would love to have - to have to manage the competitive situation between both drivers.

HHF: Let's talk a little bit about Jenson Button. He is a great hope in British motorsport in F1. Has he got what it takes to go all the way?

GDF: I tell you, before I came here to work in F1 with Honda Racing, I was always an admirer of Jenson. You can see his fine touch on the steering wheel, you see it on the in-car camera, everybody can see that. And just watching him racing, you see this guy is good.

I must admit, now that I work with him and I can see him operating at close quarters, I became a real fan of his. I think certainly he is a very unique talent, he is extremely fast, some of the qualifying stuff that he was able to do last year with, let's admit, a difficult car - we didn't have a fantastic car - that was incredible. So he got all the raw materials to go all the way.

HHF: Was it frustrating to not score points at all until France last year, after an awesome 2004 - he had 10 poles or something? It must have been frustrating to go backward.

GDF: Oh, absolutely. I mean, let's not mince our words. The first half of our season was very, very difficult, and in my mind the priority at the time was to keep the team together. The only way we were going to pull through that time was to keep the team together, and Jenson was very much a part of that.

We were able to keep our eye on the ball, the engineers were able to do that too, and it was only through that difficult period that we were able to pull through and had a good second half of the year. Certainly, we didn't win a race - which is what we wanted to do - but I think we finished the year on a high, and that gave really everyone a lot of energy for the next year.

HHF: He's presumably put the frustration of last year behind him, and the contractual negotiations between Williams and Honda. Is he hugely motivated now?

GDF: Absolutely. I spoke with Jenson a couple of days ago, and he is really pumped. So he will have his first test of the year next week, he is a 100 percent focused. Like you said, all of the frustrations and distractions that we had last year are behind us, and now all we have to do is go racing.

HHF: Technical changes for 2006. 2.4l V8 engines, tyre changes are back, and a qualifying shakeup. All good stuff?

GDF: I think generally speaking, yes. We were certainly hoping to keep the same tyre rules as we had last year, but that has been decided and this is the new set of rules we have got - and that is okay.

I think the new qualifying format will be hugely exciting. I like the idea of having elimination rounds - and also the first two rounds of elimination will give you a good idea of who is fast and who is not, which will also give you an indication of how much fuel people got for the start of race. So I think that will be very exciting.

The upside of having tyre changes back is that you can play a little bit more with strategy by stopping early or stopping late, so you might be able to have a few more options there during the race, which might be a little bit exciting. So I think it's all good. I mean, certainly when you first hear the V8 cars run it is quite different but trust me, I have been to two or three big tests with the V8 running, and you get used to it very quickly.

HHF: Will Honda win a race in 2006?

GDF: I certainly hope so. Every plan that we put in place over the winter and we are now executing, is with that intention - to be able to achieve the ultimate success of winning races and championships. Will we be able to do it? Time will tell. I have been out there long enough to know not to make predictions. There are a lot of competitive people out there.

HHF: But Honda don't mess about, do they? They don't go about it in a half-hearted way - they've had a huge amount of success, so they'll be fired up too

GDF: Listen, I worked with Honda in America for six years, and if I was to describe their way to operate, it's commitment. a 100 percent commitment to success. This relentless attitude in the pursuit of their objectives. That is throughout the company. That was in America and that is here in F1, and that's in Japan. So Honda is a relentless company with a lot of commitment, and hopefully we made our sums right. We'll see.

(From the floor): Will there be clear number one and number two driver in the team this year, and what will be the situation regarding team orders?

GDF: There will be no clear number one and number two driver. We will support both drivers with equipment and personnel to the same extent and to the best of our ability. There will be nothing like 'you will win the race and you will not'. It will be every man for himself out there, with the only order to not take each other off the track. Healthy competition between the two will help the team move forward.

(From the floor): Did Anthony Davidson ever have a chance for the second seat, or not really?

GDF: It is something that we were discussing halfway through last year, with Jenson's situation it was a fairly complex scenario.

But Anthony has been part of the team before I was a part of the team - he's been in the team for five years now - and his contribution to the team is incredible. I was just at the test last week, and his feedback and communication with the engineers was absolutely crucial, and his role this year as our third driver will be really important.

I know he wants to race, and maybe he will have an opportunity with us or maybe he will have an opportunity with somebody else. But I'm sure eventually he'll get to race and become a Grand Prix driver.

HHF: Next?

GDF: My son I think wants to ask me a question

HHF: I think your son wants to know if he can race you on the simulators, actually

GDF: Ah, he wants to race me on the simulators. I don't know, Luke, we'll see.

HHF: I'm not sure his feet will reach the pedals

Luke (from the floor): When will you ever go back to racing?

GDF: I don't think so, Luke. I think daddy is getting old now, and it is behind me in a way. When I was racing, a lot of people were say why don't you do this or that together with my driving, and I always felt that part of my success came from extreme focus to what I was doing, so I shied away from getting involved in different things.

And I think if I went back to racing for whatever it was - be it a touring car or something, which I never drove in my life actually - or something different, I think it would take away from my focus as a businessman.

HHF: Will we see a de Ferran junior in a kart soon?

GDF: I think he's a little too young now, don't you think? Look at him

HHF: Not far off! I think they start when they're about a week old

GDF: Well, let me put it this way: I think it would be hypocritical of myself to have had this wonderful life as a race driver, pursuing the dreams that I had from when I was his age, and deny him that privilege. So if he - or my daughter Anna, who is right next to him - want to follow down this route, I will be glad to help them.

(From the floor): Are you under more pressure as a driver or as a team boss?

GDF: That is a good question, actually. I don't know, I think similar pressure. It sounds like the politically correct answer, but as a driver and now I feel the same way. I think pressure does not really come from the outside world - pressure comes from you pushing yourself toward your goals.

So when I was a driver, my goal was to win races, and if I didn't win races or championships I was always frustrated and felt that was what I needed to do. I feel the same way now. Certainly if we fail, I will feel frustrated in the same way.

So I feel that same pressure now as I did when I was a driver. Certainly my responsibilities are very different. I am having to deal with quite a few more people, so my day-to-day is quite a lot different.

But the pressure that I feel inside, the will to win, is very similar.